Hi all!
I'm using an iGesture NumPad (firmware 1.6 on WinXP Pro SP2). Most of the time, the pad works as it should: two-finger pointing, index is left-button, pinkie is right, and thumb is middle. It's a new device, I bought it new only a few months ago, and it has worked fine until recently. I haven't done any obvious pc-setup changes or anything else that might damage the pad (transporting it, hitting it, etc.).

ERROR:
Once in a while it "flips" so that index is right-button, pinkie is left, and thumb is also right. It can start acting like this in the middle of a working session, so it's not static because I walk around, or some (un)intentional software configuration change. I just mouse around, and the next time I click, it does the wrong button. - I then need to work "left-handed"; using the pinkie for left instead.

TESTS:
- Checking the FW tools' Feature Selector, the "Thumb/Index/Pinky Clicking" is still "enabled outside game mode" and it is still set up with the proper fingers.
- Also, the settings to "swap left/right" and "swap middle/right" are OFF.
- Doing a "palm" gesture to reset it won't change anything; it just goes on being flipped.
- [ edit: ] the system diagnostics also don't show anything awry; firmware v1.6 is there and no bad sensors or such.

After some time, it may flip back to normal again, and leave me puzzled about the reason.

I don't know what to do to make this stop. How can I find out what's going on, and how can I prevent this from happening again?

Last edited by TorbenGB on 05 Aug 2006, 16:14, edited 1 time in total.

Hi Torben,
As I have no NumPad myself, I would just speak my thoughts about the most likely/logical cause for this issue:
Is there an internal function to get this behaviour as a response to a gesture? In this case, it could be that you did something close enough just before it happens.

Replug: Haven't tried that, but will do so at the next opportunity and report back.
Customizations: None. I've been working from the plain factory default. I should also try the "restore to factory defaults" to flush any misconfiguration that might be present.

I've tried replugging, and I've tried 5x hand slaps. I've even tried it on another computer. replugging doesn't change a thing, and the hand slaps only fixes it for a short while.

It still sporadically flips from right- to left-handed as described at the top of the thread, sometimes even in the middle of anything, like clicking a link while in leftie mood, then clicking on a new link on that page suddenly works right again.

This kind of very "moody" behaviour makes it very hard for me to troubleshoot because it's hard to tell what is actually going on -- and that it also a reason why it can be terribly annoying to work with the iGesture at all

I'll also try to reset the thing from the FW software but I am no longer hopeful that it will solve anything much. The diagnostics have always reported perfect condition. If it were still possible to get this thing serviced, I wonder what they'd do?

Update: Wow, that FW software "reset" (in the diagnostics screen) seems to have worked. At least there are no problems since I did that - 30 minutes ago. I'll post back again later to confirm this.

Update 2: Didn't change a thing. Now what?

Last edited by TorbenGB on 18 Sep 2006, 14:03, edited 1 time in total.

Yea, I know, if Windows would have done something like this to you, you would have instinctively pressed the restart button! ...this is what you get from getting used to trust FW products like we usually do

ivanw wrote:Hey Torben, can you tell us why you did not do that sooner ?

Umm... busy getting married, being on honeymoon, sorting out all the post-marital paperwork and greeting cards and so on? Now that I'm back to work, I've taken the iGesture to my work desk and I will bring my TSLP home to my workstation at home. I had hoped that the iGesture would work better at work, indicating a software issue at home, but no. I'm not sure what more I can do now.

Torben,
Now that I think about it again, my TS seems to do that on ocassion (right click instead of left). I usually replug when it happens, but I always assumed it was a Windows problem. I usually have other issues at the same time, and it ussally is related to a stickykeys accesibility option (even though completely disabled). Usually, if I hit every possible CTRL ALT and Shift key and combo on the TS, everythnig starts working normally again. I've never actually tried my pinky to see if the mouse was reversed. Maybe next time it happens to me I'll try that. In the meantime, you may try pressing all those keys (and combos of those keys) to clear out whatever bug has been built into windows since the days of Win95 (I was doing this long beforeI had a TS).
Dustin

Thanks Dustin. On a regular keyboard I've also done the "spider dance" on the special keys sometimes, in order to clear up some misfiring keyboard. But I've never had this on my TS. And my iGesture NumPad doesn't have any special keys to dance on.

Torben,
Do you have a mouse attached to the computer as well? It would be wise to try to left click with it when the iGesture is misfiring. It could plausibly leave you relieved to find out that your iGesture isn't the problem, or it could at least reaffirm the fact that said iGesture is haunted. Dustin

Good question, but the answer doesn't look good:
While the iGesture acted left-handed, I then tried the laptop's surface and buttons -- they work normally. So it's not a pc/Windows/drivers issue but apparently really a pure FW issue.

A strange psychic phenomenom related to the premature death of the dream of two inventive geniuses. When they were absorbed by the Apple Apparition and their life time dream of a new interface technology was abruptly killed just as it was about to blossom across the cyberworld, the lasting metaphysical energy had nowhere to go other than to haunt the remaining high technology keyboards it was part and parcel of, often to the puzzled concern of the few diehard adherents and enthusiasts of the technology. Though it can be frustrating and even irritating at times, these denizens of a sidetracked paradigm usually have a warm regard for the effect, except of course, when there's a deadline fast approaching or they are in the middle of a crucial presentation that will determing their professional future.

I am also pretty sure that those devices are not the only place for our ghosts. They surely know that their way out goes through our two hostages... Could they be evil enough to make it unbearable for Apple to conceal this technology for their profit...
Apple has turned into money makers, we all know that they had to a few years ago, and we know they are willing to keep the technology inside their highly fenced techno bubble.

I really don't like the solid silence around MultiTouch technology. Look at those many patented techniques that come to the surface which are just bullshit in comparison.

Sorry for the sadness of those words but, from last time I've checked, this is my last lifetime period and if I have something to say, I have to say it now. The money machine has a hard time to take its share from the web community pockets... this gives me one of the few motives of satisfaction available nowadays. But we should be suspicious about the success story of iPod...

Good on you ivanw. I agree, we do seem to be a bit short on lifetimes and it is best to say what you have to while you can. Which is what I usually try to do.

Apple has never been anything other than a corporation, though to a greater degree than most it has taken the road of excellence rather than crassly producing crap as quickly and cheaply as they can. Unfortunately, since they got a taste of what real money is, that attitude appears to have changed some.

But you can't forget that Apple is, and almost always has been Steve Jobs. True, its also been influenced by others, but at its core it is the fruit of Jobs. Even when he was ousted, he still had a lot of influence. And you have to admit he's done a pretty amazing turnaround. From being virtually driven out of his own company to a triumphant return and now essentially the most influential power within Disney/ABC. That ain't the story of an altruistic, money doesn't matter boy. At least not the last half. Which perhaps is why Apple is a bit more focussed on profit these days.

The technology involved in the Fingerworks products has been and remains well ahead of its time. Hopefully it will not be Beta-cized because of corporate management. If that happens, it will join some very distinguished company. Technical execellence is not necessarily an attribute.

Regardless, we can keep FW Technology alive. We can certainly expand upon the software. Eventually we might even expand on the hardware. In the meantime its a matter of keeping the boards that exist in working order.